In order to increase the available interior space of a motorized or towable vehicle such as a motor home or trailer, slide-out rooms can be made integral with the vehicle. When the vehicle is in transit, the slide-out room can be retracted and stored in the vehicle's interior with the exterior wall of the slide-out room approximately flush with the vehicle's exterior. As such, there is typically adequate space within the vehicle's interior to accommodate users in transit and remain within the standard width limitations imposed upon a vehicle. When the vehicle is parked and leveled, the slide-out room is then slid outward through an opening formed in a sidewall of a fixed room, increasing the internal accommodations.
Typically, slide-out rooms usually include a floor section, a roof section, a first sidewall section, a second sidewall section, and a third sidewall section. In the retracted position, the roof section and the first and second sidewall section are concealed from exterior view, and the third sidewall section forms a portion of the vehicle's sidewall. At the same time, the floor section of the slide-out room typically rests above a floor section of a fixed room and may form a portion of the usable interior floor during vehicle transit. Similarly, the roof section of the slide-out room may define the interior ceiling of that part of the vehicle during transit. The proximal ends of the roof section, first sidewall section, and second sidewall section, include stop walls. As used herein, “proximal” refers to the portion towards the vehicle body and “distal” refers to the portion away from the vehicle body. The stop walls form an L-shaped configuration with the respective roof section, first sidewall section and second sidewall section. The stop walls engage the inner surface of a respective sidewall section of the fixed room when the slide-out room is fully extended, and thereby limit the travel of the slide-out room.
In some instances, linkage arrangements are included to support the slide-out room in both an expanded or retracted position. In one popular design, a plurality of elongated members are pivotally fixed to each other near their ends and midsections, forming a scissor-like formation. The free ends of the linkage assembly are pivotally mounted to the side of the slide-out room, as well as an adjacent section of the main vehicle room. For example, such an arrangement can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,667 entitled Expandable Linkage, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
When properly mounted and adjusted, these linkage arrangements provide a lightweight and effective slide-out support mechanism. However, the linkage must be precisely aligned between the slide-out room and the vehicle body to function properly. A misaligned linkage may not fully retract into the vehicle, leaving the slide-out room partially outside the vehicle and unable to travel. Further, numerous factors can make mounting and adjustment to a vehicle body considerably difficult. For example, the linkage may be imprecisely mounted to the proper location on the vehicle, the connection points of the linkage to the vehicle may migrate, or the slide-out room may sag.